Connector clip



NOV. 10, 1953 y F 5M|TH 2,658,965

CONNECTOR CLIP Filed Dec. 14, 1950 Delbert F Smith INVENToR.

Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcr;A

Delbert F. Smith, Shawnee, Okla.

ApplicationDecember 14, 1950; Serial No. ,20057-80Av Z'Claims. l

invention` relates to electric connectors ofr the detachable type and it has more partic llil-arlyv reference to clips for making vconnections with a cableor` conductor. It isr the object of this invention toprovide aconnector' clip which is not' only capable of making connections by clamping any object but which is also capable of changing the connection between the conductors with which: it is permanently connected. automatically, thus making not only connections between the aforesaidl permanently attached conductors and' external conductors when in operative or clamping position Abut also making connections between the permanently attached conductors when in a position of rest or in an inoperative' position. The last named. connection betweenthe conductors permanently attached to the connector clip is preferably made for safety purposes.

A further object of the invention consists in providing a connector clip permanently connected with instrument' wires: which. is provided with means for connecting said instrument wires with current carryingconductors of a defln'ite polarity insuch a manner that' each instrument wire can only be connected with av conductor ofV definitepolarity and which is furthe-r adapted to connect the said. instrument wires with eachI other when the clip is infit's operative position.

A further object' ofY the invention consists in providingY a connector clip lpermanelitly connectedwith instrumen-t wires and consisting of clip members having cylindrical surfaces adapted to clamp curved or cylindrical objects with whichA a connection is to `be made, said connector' cl-ip being also provided with rests for the clip members incontact with each .other in the position oi' rest, the said cylindrical surfaces and rests 'of each member being electrically connected VVwith each other and with one of the instrument wires .in order .to connect the said insti'i-iment wires alternatively with the `objects clamped between 'the cylindrical surfaces when the connector clip is in :a clamping position or with each other when the connectorv clip is in a position of rest. y

Further objects o'f the invention will be apparent from .the following detailed specirlcation.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanyi.

ing vdrawings showing one embodiment yof fthe same by way `of example. It is however vto .be understood that the example illustrated was selected .in order to explain `the principle :of the invention and the .best mode of ,applying said principle: lThe specification does not. describe in' detaillthfe various modes oi" applying. the prin.- cipleof the invention and la departure from the example shown in the: drawings is therefore not necessarily al departure from the principle of the invention.

In: the drawing:

Figure '1 is an elevational side view of thereon nectorcliip in its positionof'rest;

Figur-e 2 -isan elevational side view of theA connectory clip in its operative position in which it clamps a cable;

yFigure 3 is .an elevational sectional View, the section 'being taken along line 3--3 oi" Figure 1f;

Figure 4 is an elevational sectional view ofthe connector clip' in itsoperative position, the seetion-'being taken along line- 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5Iv is an` elevational Vsectional view of the connectorl clip in its position of rest, the section beingf taken alonglinef5`5 of Figure 4:;

Figure 6 is Aan isometric view of the two copper 'linings covering the Vend. of the clip connector;

Figure 7 is anisometric View of one oi' Athe clip members;

Figure-8m a side viewoffa cable provided with flanges `for connecting the conductorsY of the calinle'v which cable may be clamped by the connector clip. n

The connector clip which has Ibeen illustrated inthe drawing is specilically designed for making quickly detachable temporary connections between Ya .seismometer and. a seismograph cable. The sei-smometer is a rather delicate instrument which is preferably short .circuited when not in -use in order to avoid laccidental damage. The -seismometer is permanently conconnected with the cable conductors which are secured to the cable by means of adhesive tape. One of the flanges of the cable zis preferably provided with apin and this ange has a deflnite 4polarity so that the polarity of the seismometer lead which vis .connected with this lparticular nance kis .always a .predetermined one. In order ato obtain :such :a connection with :a 4delfi- -nite polarity :the .connector clip is '.so constructed that 'the :cable Hanse ,which has fthe .aforesaid polarity can only beton-nested with one of the vportions cover the clip members which in its turn is permanently connected with a definite instrument lead.

The essence of the invention therefore consists in providing a connector clip capable of making quickly attachable and detachable connections between a cable and an instrument which not only assures correct connection of each instrument lead with a cable conductor of denite polarity but which also, whenever the instrument is disconnected from the cable, automatically produces a short circuiting of the instrument leads which is desirable and in many cases indispensable in order to protect the instrument when left unconnected.

As will be seen in Figures l, 2 and 5, the clip has approximately the shape of a spring clip clothespin and it comprises the two clip members I and II which are preferably made of an insulating dielectric material such as plastic or are made of a core material covered by the dielectric material. The clip members I5, II have a front section I2, I4 respectively forming a jaw and a rear or handle section l5, I8 respectively forming the handle by means of which the clip is operated. Between the two aforesaid sections I2, I5 and I4, I8 respectively, each member is provided-on its inside with a cavity 20, 22, approximately semicircular in cross section, which cavities when the two members are placed adjacent to each other form an approximately cylindrical bore into which a coil spring 25 is inserted. The coil spring is approximately of the length of the bore and the end portions of the spring which project laterally are curved along a wide arc of relatively flat curvature. These curved portions terminate in inwardly projecting ends 26 which are bent so as to be at right angles to the arcuate portion of the spring which ends rests upon the front portions I2 and I4 respectively of the clip at a certain distance from the coil spring thus holdingy the sections I2 and I4 firmly against each other.

The members Il and I I have tapering end portions and are moreover provided on their inner sides with contact or rest surfaces I1, I9 which are pressed against each other when the spring 25 is inserted into the cavity 20, 22 and the ends of the spring press the sections I2 and I4 against each other. Immediately adjacent to said contact or rest surfaces I'I, I9 and at the rear thereof arcuate transverse recesses 30, 29 are provided, each recess having approximately the shape of a cylindrical segment.

These recesses, as well as the adjacent contact or rest surfaces, are provided with a copper lining 32, 33, This copper lining has a cylindrical section 35, 3S which covers the recesses 30, 29 of the jaw members while ilat strip or plate like portions 31, 38 projecting from the cylindrical flat inner contact surfaces I'I, IS respectively. These fiat inner portions of the copper lining 31, 38 are so located that they come into contact with each other when the spring 25 urges the two jaw members toward each other. All other inner surfaces of the clip members are however so shaped that they recede from each other and do not come into contact with each other when the jaw members close.

The inner surface of the cylindrical portion of the copper lining 35, 36 may be roughened or corrugated in order to grip firmly a cable inserted between the two cylindrical recesses 29, 30. These corrugations also exercise a kind of grinding or scraping action when a cable is gripped between the jaws which action removes particles of foreign matter which may have collected on the surmometer.

face of the cable and which may interfere with a. good contact.

One of the two clip members (Ill in the figures of the drawing) and the copper lining 3'I which is attached to it is slotted, the slots running from the tip of the member inwardly in a longitudinal direction towards the recess 30. The copper lining 32 covering the contact surface I'I of the said clip member I2 is likewise provided with a slot 34 which divides its at portion 37 and a part of its cylindrical portion 35 into two spaced sections 31a, 31h. The slots 28 and 34 are provided for a, purpose to be explained below.

The two copper linings 32 and 33 may be fixed on the clip members I0 and I I by means of screw bolts 39 with conical heads passing through bores 40 of the lining with countersunk portions which screw bolts are firmly held within threaded bores of the clip members.

On the outer side or back of each clip member I5, I2 a longitudinal shallow groove or recess 42, 43 is provided. Near the ends of said groove bores 41, 45 and 44, 46 respectively lead from the outer side to the inner side of the clip member.

Within the said shallow groove 42, 43 a contact strip or wire 48, 49 is arranged which is soldered to a binding post 55, 5I passing through the rear bores 44, 46 respectively of the clip members. This binding post may be riveted or otherwise held in said bore. On the other end of the strip a tongue projecting from the same or a separate wire soldered to the strip passes through the bores 4?, 45 respectively and is soldered to the cylindrical portion of the copper lining 35, 36 respectively.

The rear end of the groove 42, 43 and the bores 44, 46 are located in the handle sections I6, I8 of the clip members. These handle sections I6, IS are suitably curved so as to be concave on their outer side in order to facilitate gripping by the hand, and they are moreover provided at their inside with a longitudinal channel 54, respectively which is open at the rear end of the handle section and in to which the instrument wires 6I, 62 may enter. The channels 54, 55 are preferably stepped as shown at 56, 51 respectively so as to accommodate the soldering lugs 58, 59 respectively of the lead wires 6I, 62 leading to the seis- The ends 63 of the said instrument wires may be xed to the binding post 50, 5I respectively. It will thus be clear that the wires 6I, 62 are held within the channels 54, 55 and that the binding posts cannot touch each other in the clamping position of the clip members.

The seismograph cable, as seen in Figure 8, may contain the two iianges E6, El' one of which 1s connected with the positive and the other with the negative cable conductor. The flanges are held on the cable by means of insulating adhesive tape 68. One of the flanges, for instance the flange 61, is connected with the positive wire and is provided with a pin 1B. The cable is clamped by the clip member at the portion where the flanges 6T, 66 are exposed and the pin 'Il may enter into the slots 28, 34 of the clip member lil and of the copper lining 32. The positive conductor of the cable, for instance, always leads to flange 61 provided with pin 'I0 and in this case is always connected with the seismometer lead 6I while the negative conductor of the seismograph cable is always connected with wire 62.

.It will therefore be noted that the connector clip connects automatically the two seismometer leads 6I, B2 when the gripping elements are in contact with each other, as shown in Figure 5, as 1n this case the flat sections 371, 38 of the copper linings are in contact with each other, while each of the cylindrical portions 35, 36 of the copper linings is soldered by wires 64, 65 to the strips 48, 49. These strips, in their turn, are connected with the binding posts 50, 5l respectively to which the wires 6I, 62 of the instrument are soldered.

If a detachable connection is to be made with the seismograph cable 63 the clip members l0, l2 are opened by pressing the handles, the cable is inserted between the cylindrical recesses 30, 23 and the lianges 66, 6l of the cable are clamped when the grip members are again allowed to close. Thereby each of the seismometers leads 6I, 62 is connected with one of the cable conductors, the polarity of said conductors being defined by the pin 79 which must enter into the slot 28, 34 so that connection with the seismometer can only be made in a certain way.

It will be understood that the invention has been described with reference to a specic example having a number of specific peculiarities and that non-essential changes or modifications will not in any way affect the essence of the invention as defined by the annexed claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a seismometer connection arrangement with a substantially cylindrical seismograph cable having a plurality of insulated cable conductors of different polarity each connected with a conducting liange covering a portion of the cylindrical Surface of the cable, one of said flanges being provided with a polarity indicating pin, a connector clip, including a pair of clip members of insulating material, means for pressing the said members towards each other, each member being provided with a longitudinal groove on the outside and with a transverse recessed substantially arcuate clamping surface portion on the inside, facing the other clip member, adapted to clamp and hold the seismograph cable, a iiat contacting portion on each clip member adjacent to said clamping surface portion, contacting the corresponding portion on the other clip member when the clip is closed, a metal lining member consisting of a cylindrical section adapted to cover said arcuate clamping surface portion and of a flat section projecting from said cylindrical section and covering the said flat contacting surface, one of the clip members and one of the conducting members being slotted to such an extent that the slot reaches the arcuate recessed portion of the clip and the corresponding portion of the lining member, means for fixing each of said lining members on one of said clip members, longitudinal conducting members arranged within the outer longitudinal groove of the clip member, a permanent connection between each of said metal lining members and one end of one of said conducting members, a seismometer lead permanently connected with the other end of each of said conducting members, said pin on said cable and the slot on one of pressure, each clip member having a contactA section, a clamping section and a handle section, the contact section of each clip member consisting of a contact surface extending inwardly from the outer edge of the clip, the Contact surfaces on the two clip members being applied against each other by the spring pressure when the clip is in its' position of rest in which no object is clamped, the clamping section being formed by transverse recesses of substantially semi-cylindrical shape in the body of the clip members and arranged between the contact section and ythe pivot connection between the clip members, said clamping section being substantially adapted to grip the cylindrical cable, a metal lining covering the contact section and the clamping section of each clip member on the surfaces of the clip member turned towards each other, one of the clip members and the metal lining carried by said member being provided with a slot cut through the contact section and through part of the clamping section to admit the polarity indicating pin during the clamping of the cable, each 4clip member being further provided with a shallow cylindrical groove on the outside leading from a point near the clamping section to a point of the handle section, a conducting member in said shallow groove, permanently connected at its outer end with the metal lining, and connecting wires permanently connected with the other end cf lthe conducting member located in the shallow groove, the correct polarity of the connection between the cable wires and the connection wires being indicated by the entry of the polarity indicating pin into the slot provided in one of the clamping members upon clamping of the cable.

DELBERT F. SMITH.

References Citedvin the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,432,343 Krokavetz Oct. 17, 1922 2,402,766 Moore June 25, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,593 Great Britain of 1910 19,567 Great Britain of 189.4 936,469

France Feb. 16, 1948 

